


Ain't Fooling Nobody

by Thelizardwrites



Category: Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot Collection, POV Outsider, everyone can see it, except for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24650650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thelizardwrites/pseuds/Thelizardwrites
Summary: The two of them blindly stumble through the days unaware that the rest of the world can clearly see how besotted they are.  Jack and Sue’s daily dance around each other has the rest of the bureau, not to mention the the greater D.C area, avidly watching and waiting.
Relationships: Jack Hudson/Sue Thomas
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This show kicked me in the head and demanded I write something.

Annie Wells felt like celebrating. She’d just managed to complete her first week at the bureau, and she hadn’t screwed up, gotten fired, or yelled at. The jitters were finally receding enough that she was confident that she was not dreaming the fact she was really, _truly_ here at her dream job.

She really enjoyed the unit she’d been placed with too, which was a relief. She appreciated the easy camaraderie that permeated the whole group, and the ease with which they welcomed her. And she believed with all her heart that, in time, she would consider the other two women of the group to be some of her dearest friends.

“Oh, there you are!”

Turning, she was met with the grinning faces of Jane and Helen. It seemed as if, by merely thinking of them, they materialized.

“We wanted to celebrate you completing your first week, we’re taking you out for drinks!” Jane exclaimed while dancing in circles around Annie. Meanwhile, Helen had managed to acquire an entire box worth of colorful confetti, and was generously throwing heaps of it over all all three of them.

“All right, All right!, only if you quite that ridiculous dancing!”

“Just be glad it’s only dancing and confetti, Brad offered earlier to lend his trombone to the festivities.”

“Seriously?” 

“Yep, anyhow, you ready to head out?”

“I think maybe we should clean up this confetti first.”

++++++++++

“Soooo, meet any cute guys since you’ve settled in?” Helen asked. Both Helen and Jane leaned in over the bar table, chins in their hands, mirthfully teasing their new team member.

“Well, actually, there is one guy I’ve been crushing on...”

“Oooh, tell us!” Chorused the two, leaning further in.

“I haven’t had a chance to properly meet him yet, but I’ve seen him around the bureau, his name’s Jack Hudson, do you guys know him?

Helen nearly fell off her chair. 

“Oh, uh...yeah” Jane trailed off.

“Aww phooey, is he already taken?”

“Not...exactly.” Helen floundered, trying to explain.

“Everyone at the bureau considers him taken, but he’s not...um...literally spoken for.” Jane trailed off again, at a loss for how to explain Jack and Sue to someone who had never seen them. 

“What?” 

“It’s kinda hard to explain without seeing it for yourself. I take it you haven’t met Sue Thomas yet?” Helen interjected, hazarding a guess.

“I don’t think so?”

“You’d know if you met her. Oh! I know how to clear this up. I have a report I need to turn in to Jack on Monday morning, if you come along, I’m sure you’ll understand what we mean.” Helen smirked at the thought of introducing Annie to the FBI’s most infamously, haplessly, most blindly besotted pair of agents.

“Ugh, I think I already hate her.” Annie growled. Who was this Sue person? What was she doing that was putting Jack in this odd position? If she didn’t want him, why not let someone else have him?

“See, here’s the thing actually, you won’t hate her. I promise this will all make sense when you meet them” Helen replied, interrupting Annie’s internal ranting about the mysterious Sue.

“Well, if you insist, Monday morning it is, then.”

++++++++++

Monday morning found the trio headed up to Jack’s bullpen. Jane and Helen gigglingly eager to introduce Annie to the clueless couple. Helen had come prepared with the report that provided their excuse to travel out of their own office into this mysterious realm. They found Jack with no trouble, but it appeared that Sue had not yet arrived.

Introductions were made all around, and Annie found Jack to be pleasantly friendly, in a distant sort of way. He exuded strength that leant a seriousness to his bearing, and air of experience that she could only hope to one day to achieve. He also seemed somewhat distracted, as if he was waiting for something.

Annie heard footsteps behind her, and witnessed something incredible. Her previous assessment of seriousness in Jack _melted_ off of his face and was replaced by a gentle glowing smile, and his eyes took on a joyous sparkle. Turning, she found the object of his attention, along with...a dog?

“Annie, this is Sue Thomas, and her dog, Levi” Jack introduced her to the smiling blonde woman, coming around to stand beside Sue. Annie had never in her life had call to describe a person as _gazing_ at another, but that was the only way she could describe the expression on his face.

“Glad to meet you Annie, and welcome to the FBI, I heard you just completed your first week, congratulations! You haven’t had any problems settling in have you? If anybody bothers you, you just tell me, and I’ll set Levi on ‘em.” 

As Sue spoke, Annie noticed an oddly thick lilt to her voice. It sounded as if her tongue was slightly too large for her mouth, and had to work around it to get the words out. She also wondered about the dog, why was he here? She knew about seeing eye dogs, but Sue was clearly not blind, so that wasn’t it. She tried to ask Sue about Levi, but she didn’t seem to hear. It all became clear when Levi, seeing Annie was trying to get Sue’s attention, stood up and pushed on her leg.

“Oh! I’m sorry, were you asking me something? I wasn’t facing you, so I didn’t see. See, I’m deaf, and Levi is my hearing dog. I read lips, but if I’m facing away from you, he gets my attention so I know something’s going on.” Sue gently explained.

Annie was blindsided by the warmth this woman exuded, offering her friendship so easily, having barely known her even five minutes. Her gentle sweetness wrapped around everyone like a blanket, and Annie’s envy washed away as she watched her, ashamed that she’d jumped to such a harsh opinion of her.

She also noticed how Sue had a special teasing smile just for Jack, and seemed to spend just as much time gazing back at him. They seemed to gravitate toward one another, heads bent close, bodies leaning gently. As Sue excused herself and went past them to settle at her desk, Jack’s eyes followed after her, and distractedly followed in her footsteps to his own desk.

Taking that as their cue to leave, the three women shuffled hurriedly back out to the hall.

“Wow”

“I know, right?”

“And you say the two of them aren’t together? If they were any more into each other, something might explode! How long has been going on?”

Helen laughed “It’s been around three years now, they’ve been in love practically since the minute she walked through the door, but they don’t seem to realize that the feelings are mutual.” 

“Again, wow.”

“Tell me about it” Jane snorted “The entire bureau can see it, and most of D.C. for that matter. We’re all waiting on baited breath for when they finally figure it out.”

“So...do you want in on the betting pool?”


	2. Chapter 2

Howie Fines ran the betting pool.

He’d fought hard for it, and honestly, he was the best man for the job, seeing as he was part of both worlds that Jack and Sue dealt with. He adored Sue, would take a bullet for her, just as he knew she would do the same for him in the same situation. He liked to think he knew her better that most anybody, save for Jack, of course, and maybe Lucy. He’d been loyal to her since that first case years ago, and would never abide an ill word towards her.

He was a odd, jittery, chihuahua of a man.

He’d asked Jack, that first time they interrogated him, whether she’d belonged to him. He’d seen how Jack’s attention was caught by her. And while he’d gotten no response, he knew which way the wind blew. Howie was behind Sue all the way, no matter how long it took. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun with the situation in the meantime.

He didn’t realize, when he’d started it, how big the pool would get.

It turned out, he wasn’t the only one to catch the lingering eyes and gentle smiles that passed daily between the two. It had started out as something of a joke between him and Lucy, and then Bobby had overheard their whispering. Soon enough, the whole unit was involved, and it wasn’t long before it snowballed to the entire Hoover building and beyond.

He’d had to set some ground rules for the betting process.

He had to explain to everyone, when they first came to him, that the prize wouldn’t be paid out till he had clear and concrete evidence that their relationship had progressed beyond friendship. They had an exceptional knack for getting into situations where, if they’d been anybody else, would have kickstarted a full blown relationship. No amount of kissing or _literally being married_ seemed to make them realize the truth. They were incredibly good at making excuses for how it was all just friendly, they only did it for the job, it had nothing to do with how they _felt_ about each other. 

As such, Howie wanted to make absolutely sure that each person was fully aware of what they were getting into when they placed their bets. He didn’t want them thinking that just because they saw the two numskulls _kissing_ didn’t mean that they were any closer to winning the bet. Normal rules didn’t apply here, he’d tell them, you gotta make sure you’re not just making a knee jerk reaction to it all. You had to be . 

After all, this had been going on for years, and he loved every minute of it


	3. Chapter 3

Special Agent Harold Edwards was going undercover.

He was headed down to the Hoover building’s props department in the basement. In a frugal effort to pinch as many pennies as they could, the FBI had a veritable smorgasbord of costumes and accessories that could be reused at any time. It was quite a sizable collection that could easily be the pride of any Broadway theater costume department. At least if they wanted to put on an Shakespearian adaption that consisted entirely of characters who were either homeless or blue collar workers. They had a lot of that down here. 

He was going undercover as a middle school english teacher, investigating a far reaching corruption scheme that permeated through the tri-state public school system. So, he wasn’t really in need of any clothing options, but he did need accessories that would help make him somewhat less threatening, seeing as he would be working among children.

“Ah, yes, children can easily pick up on nuances of character, maybe a wedding ring would help.” Muttered the bespectacled Mr. Spencer. He was a short, round man that reminded Harold somewhat of a mole, always down here digging through the racks and shelves as he was.

“A wedding ring?”

“Yes. It’s a very small detail, but one that provides a great deal of information, even if only subconsciously. Follow me.”

Harold and Mr. Spencer wove through the dimly lit racks till they reached the far wall. There, on one of the shelves, was an assortment of rings, both of the engagement variety and the plainer wedding bands. A set of rings off to the side in a beautiful little display box caught his eye, and he was reaching for them when Mr. Spencer gave a little twitching jump of alarm.

“Oh, not those! Those are reserved!”

“What?”

“For the Hudsons, you know. They’re a gift...for the future.”

Harold only knew one Hudson in the department, and he wasn’t married, but...oh... _oh_.

“We kept their rings after their undercover marriage, it felt wrong to put them back into circulation. It will be the bureau’s gift to them once they truly do marry. For now, they live down here on display.”

“I see.” Laughed Harold. “I take it you’ve got money on them?”

“Of course!” Mr. Spencer exclaimed. “I’ve got a tenner on two years from now.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters aren't meant to be in any sort of chronological order, or really connected. For instance, this is focused on David, so we're going back in time a bit.

How do you break up with someone for no reason?

Well, technically, there _was_ a reason, but it wasn’t exactly a reason he could explain to her.

“Sorry, you’re in love with someone else, it’s just not gonna work out between us.” Yeah, that wasn’t really something you told a person. Particularly a person who didn’t even realize that they were in love with someone else.

David found himself utterly stumped.

He did love Sue dearly, and he knew she cared for him. He would be perfectly happy to continue dating her. She was a wonderful woman of faith and sweetness, and under any other circumstances, would be the perfect woman to marry and raise a family with. He knew all these things, wanted these things, dreamed of these.

He would have been content, blissfully proceeding along the path of this gentle happiness, had he not met her coworkers. He’d seen nearly immediately the bond she held with Jack. How the push and pull of their interactions felt intimate, even in the crowded room. Jack brought out a confidence in Sue that was almost tangible. And she, in turn, seemed to be a calming force. And David realized that the easy, simple love that he and Sue shared was not the deep and abiding connection she deserved.

He didn’t begrudge Jack for that connection he’d forged with her, didn’t envy him for the rug he’d pulled out from under his feet. In fact, he really liked him. David considered him to be a good friend, if a little stand-offish at times. Which of course he knew the reason behind that, and forgave it in good humor. 

So, how do you go about breaking up with a person you don’t actually really want to break up with, and do it without explaining why? There was nothing he could say, without lying or sounding like an ass. He didn’t want to hurt her, wanted to continue being her friend, but he couldn’t exactly tell her the truth. 

And he wouldn’t do anything awful to her to force her to break with him. That had been Howie’s idea. Howie’s heart was in the right place, but it sure took some strange detours to get there. He wasn’t going to cheat on her, or say awful things about or to her, thus getting her to do the work for him.

The only thing he could conceivably come up with was to grow distant, just drift apart gradually. That was starting to sound like the least harmful sort of way to go about it. He wouldn’t have to lie, or cheat, or invent a distant relative who suddenly needed him and his botany skills to come and live with him in his dusty old mansion for the rest of his life in order to inherit his mysteriously vast garden related fortune.

To drift apart would mean something of a long haul, it wasn’t a perfect idea. Maintaining a relationship with the full intention of ending it the entire time. Possibly drawing it out for months. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it could easily be hurtful. He wouldn’t be doing anything _physically_ damaging, but months of drifting apart would definitely leave mental scars. 

David was well and truly stumped.


	5. Chapter 5

Hannah Phillips was a professional people watcher.

Well, not really. She was a desk clerk in the lobby of the Hoover Building. But it sure felt like she and the other clerks were paid to watch the agents as they passed in and out of the building. Sure, she manned the information desk for visitors who came through, but most people knew where they were going.

She and her workmates spent their time jokingly inventing conversations for the agents as they passed, and speculating about the sorts of things they were rushing off to do. And of course gossiping about any little tidbits of daily drama that they could get their hands on through the proverbial grapevine. She’d been here long enough to have a pretty good grasp on the personalities that traveled through the lobby every day. Only Eleanor Henderson had been here longer, and she’d introduced Hannah to the joys of watching one particular set of agents.

“Here they come!” Eleanor whispered, craning her neck to better glimpse the bureau’s favorite not-actually-a-couple as they stepped off the elevator. And paused on their path down the hall.

“Looks like they’re heading different directions.” Hannah whispered back, giggling behind her hands.

Whenever Sue and Jack were not going the same direction when they left the building, they would pause and draw out their conversation till they could no longer invent excuses not to go their separate ways. Every couple of yards would find them pausing again. From elevator to lobby doors, pause by pause, it would take about half an hour before they were well and truly out of the building. You could set your watch by it. And once they made outside, they’d pause again standing in the sidewalk. Oblivious to passersby, they’d stall, talking of who knew what till they finally had to part.

“Did you know they went undercover as a _married couple_ last month?” Asked Eleanor, turning to keep track of the two as they made their gradual way across the lobby. They’d made record time today, managing to make it all the way to the middle of the room before making their second stop.

“What? Really?”

“Yes! A _whole week_ alone in a house together. Wedding photos on the mantle, rings on their fingers, the whole nine yards.”

“Ooh, any...developments?”

“Absolutely diddly-squat, wouldn’t you know it. Those two are the most thick headed dolts I ever did see.” Growled Eleanor with remarkable fervor. She loved them like her own children, but she sometimes wanted hit the two of them upside the head.

“Remarkable skill they’ve got, passing everything off so easily.” Hannah agreed, one eye still on the pair. they’d nearly made it to the lobby doors, and this was only the third time they stopped. They seemed to be making up for the infrequency of their stops with the length of the pauses.

“But, on a lighter note, I did hear from Mr. Spencer down in the props department that he applied for their rings to be set aside for them, and, best I can tell, it looks like that’s been approved. So they’ll at least have that waiting for them when they finally get their heads out of the sand.” Replied Eleanor with a smile.

“There’s also the betting pool money.” Hannah mentioned.

“What?”

“You don’t know about the pool?”

“I do, got money in it myself, but what do you mean by also?”

“Did Howie not explain? Half the winnings will go to them, for a wedding or a honeymoon. However they want to use it. Last I heard the pot was upwards of several thousand, so the winner is still gonna win a chunk of change, even with it being halved.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Eleanor gasped. “I did join the betting pool fairly early on, so the plan may not have been fully figured out at that point. I think that’s a splendid idea.” 

At this point, Sue and Jack had made it out the doors, and by the looks of it, were finally at a point where they could no longer find any excuses to continue standing there in the sidewalk. Sue went one way, and Jack the other. Both of them taking turns glancing back at each other, never noticing the other doing it. Finally, Sue turned a corner out of sight. Jack seemed reluctant to turn his eyes away, even with her out of view.

Which is why he promptly walked straight into a lamppost.


	6. Chapter 6

“Ooh, Victoria’s Secret is having a sale on nighties, either of you needing something like that?” Asked Tara, teasing her friends over the racy shop.

Tara, Sue, and Lucy had a rare free day from FBI worries, and were spending it at the mall. Very much enjoying a day of acting like teenagers, roaming the storefronts and window shopping. Sipping overpriced coffees, and giggling over gossip.

Sue glanced at the shop and shrugged. “Eh, no. I’ve got plenty of nightclothes, particularly...um...nevermind.”

She trailed off in embarrassment, and rushed ahead of the other two, hoping they wouldn’t notice and dig for an explanation.

“Hey, you can’t just say something like that! Now I’m dying to know, I’m not letting you off the hook now missy!” Lucy caught Sue’s attention, and signed her teasing excitement along with the words. Sue couldn’t just drop a juicy hint like that and leave her and Tara in the dark!

“Oh, just a Christmas gift I got a few years back. A hockey jersey. I don’t use it everyday, just sometimes.” Sue’s attempt at nonchalance was betrayed by the blush that washed across her cheeks as she turned away and walked ahead again.

Behind her, Lucy nearly choked on her drink.

Tara looked askance at Lucy, puzzled by her reaction. “What?”

“That was a gift from Jack!” Lucy coughed out on a wheeze. They could talk freely, since Sue was ahead with her back turned. “She got him the exact same thing that year. ”

Tara gasped, delighted with the new detail in the never ending parade of Jack-and-Sue stories that were a seemingly daily occurrence. “Wow! It just keeps getting better and better! I don’t know how they keep doing it.”

“I know! I keep trying to tell her, but she keeps insisting that all the romantic moments are just friendly gestures and that I’m misreading things.”

Sue turned back to them and saw their grinning faces. “it was nothing really, just a friendly gift. It’s very comfortable, that’s all, very easy to sleep in, really!” 

Tara and Lucy cracked up.

“Oh, sure. I’m just... _misreading things_.” Lucy said with a wink to Tara. 

Tara snorted, and the laughter began again.


	7. Chapter 7

The law office of Callahan & Merced was a hectic, industrious, beehive of activity. And, as with any office, full of wandering eyes and gossipy tongues. Always teeming with hot blooded young hotshots ready to prove something. Alliances forming and falling apart on whims as flimsy as cobwebs.

And it was no stranger to the age old office romance. Those same young hotshots watching each other with hungry eyes. The gossip readily at hand, speculating over who was together, fighting, or explosively breaking apart.

One such pair of hungry eyes was Reggie Anderson. Trust fund baby extraordinaire, he was technically a lawyer. In reality, he sat at a desk and tried to look important. The job, as had his law degree, had been not so much earned as handed to him by his father. His father, with deep pockets and deeper expectations, and connections deepest of all.

Reggie turned to his desk neighbor, Parker. “What do you think of that new girl, Sue?”

Parker Nelson grew up in much the same circumstances as Reggie, if not quite so extremely affluently. Same trust fund easing his way, same Ivy League bragging rights, same father with the deep expectations. In contrast to Reggie, Parker’s father hadn’t handed him the end result, but had expected him to achieve his successes legitimately. Of course, with the wealth and position, the path had been smoothed somewhat.

“She’s fine I guess, why?”

“Been thinking about making a move on her.”

Parker considered Reggie to be something of an ass. A very unobservant ass.

“Do you have a death wish or something?”

“What, you think she’s got a man?” 

Parker wondered whether or not it might be worth it to let Reggie get himself killed, but figured he’d probably be the one who’d end up having to clean up the mess.

“Dude, she and her boss are totally an item. I don’t think he’s the type to appreciate your moves. He would _crush_ you.” 

“That Jack guy? You sure they’re together?” Asked Reggie with a sneering pompousness that was really starting to make Parker regret his choice to so magnanimously keep Reggie alive.

“Seriously? Have you been living under a rock or something? If ever there was a candidate for a pair of people most likely to be found canoodling in a broom closet, it’d be the two of them.”

“ _Canoodling_?”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.” Parker huffed in frustration. “Have you even been watching them? You’d have to be blind not to notice how _close_ they always are.” 

“Dude, she’s his assistant, they’re supposed to be close. That’s her _job_.”

“It’s more than that, man. They’re...intense.” Parker didn’t have a particularly romantic personality, he struggled to find the right vocabulary for the pair of them. “They’ve got gravity, or something.”

“Whatever, man. I’m going for it.”

Parker decided Reggie deserved whatever was coming to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think this is the last of the stories unless I'm hit with surprise inspiration. I hope you enjoyed what I've written, and thank you for reading!


End file.
